Local

Brandeis National Committee, Tucson Chapter, will host local author John Maley at its fall opening lunch Monday, Oct. 20, 11 a.m. at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel at Reid Park. Maley has been a soldier, peace officer, corrections officer, probation officer and has worked as a private investigator in… Read more »

Jewish National Fund has announced the Schwartz-Hammer Alexander Muss High School in Israel Impact Fellowship Program, which provides scholarships to send Arizona teenagers on a summer program to Israel.  Applicants must raise $1,000 through JNF’s “Plant Your Way” program. The fellowship, which includes everything from on-campus housing to field-… Read more »

The Civic Orchestra of Tucson, the oldest community orchestra in the region, will begin its 2014-2015 season with a free concert at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The concert, on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m., also marks the orchestra’s participation in Daniel Pearl World Music Days to honor… Read more »

Yoram Bauman

Yoram Bauman, Ph.D., “the world’s first and only stand-up economist,” will present “Comedy, Economics and Climate Change” at the University of Arizona on Monday, Sept. 29 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Berger auditorium, 1130 E. Helen St. “It turns out that comedy actually pays better than teaching,”… Read more »

Paul Reiser

The Hearth Foundation will present its 2nd Annual “Comedy for a Cause” starring Paul Reiser on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Fox Tucson Theatre. A seasoned actor, writer, producer and stand-up comedian, Reiser co-created and starred in the critically acclaimed NBC series “Mad About You,” which… Read more »

Vivian Ackerman, left, and Selma Paul Marks (Sheila Wilensky/AJP)

Friendships may be coveted throughout life, but how many span more than 65 years? Selma Paul Marks, now 91, was pregnant with her first child when she attended her friend Vivian’s wedding to Harry Ackerman at the Stone Avenue Temple on March 23, 1947. Years later, Marks and Ackerman,… Read more »

Interfaith Community Services will present a lunch and learn forum on “Mental Health and Aging,” on Wednesday, Oct. 22 from noon to 2 p.m. at Congregation Anshei Israel. Some 20 percent of adults ages 55 and over experience mental health concerns. For example, what’s the difference between signs of… Read more »

Summer’s over but worldwide trouble spots rage on. The influx into Arizona of Central American migrants fleeing violence, the ongoing turmoil in Ukraine, and the Israel-Gaza conflict were the subjects of an educational forum on Sept. 10, hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of… Read more »

Who knows what Tucson’s energetic young Jewish leaders may accomplish in the next 30 years? Four of those leaders profiled here, Amy Beyer, Adam Goldstein, Ben Pozez and Sarah Heisler Singer, have already contributed a great deal to the future of Jewish Tucson, belying the stereotype of apathetic young… Read more »

As Jews are known as “the People of the Book, “ the Arizona Jewish Post asked Tucson’s congregational rabbis to recommend a book that would inspire their congregants for the new year. Here are some intriguing suggestions: I recommend “John Lennon and the Jews: A Philosophical Rampage” by Ze’ev… Read more »

Irene Lloyd

Jewish Elder Access, a free information and referral service for Jewish adults over 60, has existed in Tucson since 2010. In just four years the program has become so well-known that Ilene Lloyd, program manager, receives calls from people in nearly every U.S. state and countries such as Spain,… Read more »

Congregation Chaverim will partner with the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation and the Union for Reform Judaism to hold a bone marrow registration drive at Yom Kippur services. “This new year, 5775, our congregation will be performing pekuach nefesh, saving a life,” says Rabbi Stephanie Aaron. “With the… Read more »

Laurie Dietz, left, coordinator of the Special Needs Inclusion Project of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Coalition for Jewish Education, reviews a visual schedule designed for a student at Congregation Or Chadah with Tianna Liebeskind and Seth Brown. (Courtesy Laurie Dietz)

On an afternoon in 2003, Brenda Landau witnessed an event that would change the way the Tucson Jewish community would provide religious education for students with special learning needs. Landau, currently a senior vice president at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, was serving as the director of education… Read more »

Tessa Haining of Boston, daughter of Hadine Joffe and Nick Haining, with her grandmother, Marcelle Joffe of Tucson

Editor’s note: Tessa Haining, 13, granddaughter of Tucsonans Marcelle and Leonard Joffe, wrote this essay about their family’s Jewish holiday food traditions. The children in the room were getting antsy, scooching around on their chairs and toying with the silverware laid out on the table. They glanced at the… Read more »

Hadassah Southern Arizona will hold its first charity golf tournament on Sunday, Oct. 26, to raise funds for medical research. “We invite you to have a great time golfing, while doing a mitzvah,” says Iris Sapovits, event chair. Noting this summer’s trendy ALS ice bucket challenge, she says, “Hadassah… Read more »

Janni Lee Simner

Janni Lee Simner takes both her writing and her Judaism seriously. Being a full-time writer, with eight published young adult and children’s novels, has influenced her observance of Shabbat, she says. “On Friday night I take a deep breath, light candles in the window,” followed by a Shabbat dinner… Read more »

Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz (left) and David Cutler

David Cutler wanted to do something special with his Catalina Foothills home after his wife, Felicia, passed away in 2009, so he approached Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz and his wife, Ada, about using the home as a synagogue. Lewkowicz, director of Judaic studies at the Tucson Hebrew Academy, jumped at… Read more »

Ori Parnaby

This fall, Tucsonans will have two new ways to connect with the many programs and services offered by the Tucson Jewish community: a concierge service and a revamped, interactive jewishtucson.org community website. Ori Parnaby, the concierge, started in her new position Sept. 2. Her office is at the Tucson… Read more »

Abigail Gumbiner

Abigail Gumbiner defies the adage “you can’t go home again.” On Sept. 14 she will speak at the Jewish History Museum of Tucson about photos she and two other artists have contributed to the current exhibit “Temple of Shadows.” The exhibit title refers to the building that many in… Read more »

The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will sponsor Gubernatorial Debate 2014 on Thursday, Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Cosponsors are the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and YWCA Tucson. Fred Duval, the Democratic candidate; Doug Ducey, the… Read more »